Cleveland Browns: DPD pick ’em pool Week 3 recap and standings update

The Cleveland Browns fell to 0-3 this past weekend, but wins were picked up by our staff in Week 3 of the Dawg Pound Daily pick ’em pool.

Here we are again. Week 3 in the NFL certainly brought change to the pick percentage this week, as the typical “pick whoever is playing against the Bills, Jets, Colts and Bears” strategy supremely backfired. You can partially blame the Cleveland Browns for that.

Before we dive into the picks that were made, here’s a look at the current standings:

1. Brandon Onda 33 points
2. Roger Cohen 32 points
3. Steven Kubitza 32 points
4. Thomas Moore 31 points
5. Andrew Seibt 29 points
6. Joel Cade 28 points
7. Joshua Dentler 28 points
8. Derek Bryner 26 points
9. Clayton Braham 24 points
10. Johnathan Goehring 18 points
11. Matt Stevenson 14 points
12. Shane Carter 11 points

Weekly Leader: Brandon Onda, 9 correct picks

Mr. Onda, what a week for you! Brandon started the week off right with choosing the Rams over the 49ers which turned out to be quite a game, and was one of only two people to choose Buffalo over Denver. And wouldn’t you know it, he even guessed the Monday Night Football score correctly. Congrats on your good week, Brandon!

Negative Groupthink

There were some heavy favorites this week, but not all of them turned out the way you would expect given the previous track records of the teams involved. Everyone who made selections chose Tampa Bay over Minnesota, Pittsburgh over Chicago, Miami over the Jets, and Carolina over New Orleans.

Using that knowledge, it is safe to say that groupthink tends to lead to bad outcomes. It also begs the question with T.Y. Hilton crippling the Browns that maybe our very own Cleveland Browns are the team that everyone will pick against as a lock until they prove us otherwise.

Shoutouts

Roger and I were the two brave souls to choose San Francisco in the Thursday Night game and it nearly paid off. That dang Brian Hoyer can’t seem to get a victory. Anyway, here are the shoutouts this week, both good and bad:

• Good: Joel Cade for being the only brave soul to pick Jacksonville in a game against the Ravens across the pond.
• Good: Making up for the lowly 49ers pick, Roger and I both chose Indy over the Browns. I predicted the Browns to win on the Dawg Pound Daily Podcast, but after some thinking this weekend I decided to change my pick. I don’t like being right when it’s a negative outcome for the Browns, but they’re looking more and more like the 2016 team.
• Good: As previously mentioned, Brandon and Roger both chose Buffalo over Denver. However, Roger deserves another shoutout for his pick of Washington over Oakland on Sunday Night. Everyone but Roger chose Oakland and it worked out.
• Bad: Derek and Roger must really believe in Eli Manning. One giant leg from a rookie kicker swayed this game in Philly’s direction, but the Giants are now 0-3 and it will be interesting to see how much of a favorite they are moving forward.
• Bad: Matt Stevenson chose Seattle when everyone else chose Tennessee. The Titans ran all over Seattle as Seattle starts to look more and more like a shell of their former selves.
• Bad: I started with Joel on the good shoutouts, and I’ll end with him in the bad. Joel was the only one to choose Arizona this week, and while he came one point away from guessing the correct score, Dallas was too strong for Arizona despite a red-hot Carson Palmer.

I’ll be back next week with updated standings and the Captain Hindsight analysis of who made good and bad pick.

Next: 3 defensive takeaways from Week 3 loss

See you next week!